Improved means of attaching clew-blocks to clews



UNITE STATES PATENT Trice.

EBEN A. SAWYER, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

IMPROVED MEANS OF ATTACHING CLEW-BLOCKS TO CLEVVS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4l,096, dated January 5, 1864.

To all whom it r11/ty concern:

Be it known that I, EBEN A. SAWYER, of Portland, county ot' Cumberland, State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Attaching Clew-Blocks to Ulews; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccom panying drawings, making a part ot' this specification, in which- Figure l shows my improvement applied to a sail. Fig. 2 is alongitudinalsection through the clew-line block and clew. Fig. 3 shows the old mode ot' attaching a clew-line block to a clew.

` Similar letters of' reference indicate corresponding parts in the sever al iigures.

The object ot' my invention is to prevent ships clew-line blocks from chau'ngand wearing out the sail-ropes and sails near the clews,

by forming a rigid connection of the blocks to the clews, so that the motions ofthe ship will not aii'ect the blocks, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to de scribe its construction and operation.

In Fig. 8 I have represented the old mode of attaching clew-line blocks to clews. This mode consists in att-aching a single-sheave wooden block to an iron link by mea-ns of a rope strap. The link, which is several inches long,is attached to the clew or to a bar which is Welded across the two eyes ot' the clew, as clearly shown in the figure above referred to. The objection to this mode of attachment is that the loose-hanging block is always chat ing the rope and the sail, for when the sail is extended the clew-lines which pass through the block are always' left slack, so that the block drops down on the sail and rope; hence the motions of the ship keep a continual chang, and to partially' prevent the ropes from being worn out from this cause they are covered with canvas or leather-a troublesome and expensive operation.

The clew c which I use consists of three eyes, two of which receive the thimbles of d, and are let into recesses formed in the block, so that their surfaces will be hush with those of' the block. The block d is secured to the forks b b by means ot' a single screw-bolt, g, which serves also the purpose of a center-pin for the sheave h, as shown in Fig. 2. The bolt g passes loosely through the upper plate of the fork and screws into the lower plate.

The sheave, as well as the shell d, may be made of metal, and when made of Inetal the sheave may be provided with anti-friction rollers c c, as shown in Fig. 2.

By constructing the block of metal, which my Inode of attachment admits of, it can be made very much smaller than the wooden blocks hitherto used, and at the same time possess greater strength and durability.

The clew a, with triple eyes, and the forked block-holder may be wrought of one piece ot' metal, or these two parts may be united in any other convenient manner, either by rivets or welding. The advantage of using a metal block is incidental to my improved mode ot' attaching it to the clew, and, it' desired, a wooden block may still be used secured to the forks of the clew, as above described, or in any other like substantial manner.

From the above description it will be seen that a permanent and rigid attachment of the block to the clew is effected in a very simple and cheap manner, and that the block cannot chate or injure the sail-ropes or the sail. Ylhe sail-ropes need not, therefore, be covered to protect them from Wearing out. The block is always in its proper place, and it can neither' get to the sail nor the sail get to it.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Attaching clew-line blocks to their clews by means of a metal fork formed on said clews, or other rigid connection, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. Uniting blocks to their clews by means of a single bolt, which also forms the pivotfastening of the sheave, substantially as described.

3. The clue a, having a block-receivin g fork, b b, formed on it, substantially as and for the purposes described.

EBEN A. SAWYER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. CLIFFORD, C. H. HALL. 

